Reviews by tess24

Christina Baker Kline has done an exceptional job of presenting the story of Niamh Power, a fictional character, who represents many aspects of a child's life under this system. Her research and background work is stellar in securing historically accurate depictions of the time period. The experiential background of this child will certainly open your eyes to the sad fate of some of these individuals. The additional insights and interviews with the author at the end of the book provided such an extension to her story.

You'd have to be crazy to think the Cosby Show wasn't the most dominant network show on television during the 80's. The Show focused on an upper class family living in Brooklyn. Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable creates an uncanny charm as a great father to his children but at the same time he himself is childish in behavior. Claire Huxtable portrayed by Phylicia Rashad is very assertive and has a dominant role despite the fact she is second to Bill Cosby. She gracefully commands a scene. Plus the kids of the Huxtables are all portrayed to perfection from Theo, Denise, Sondra, Rudy, etc......even the guests including Earle Hyman as Cliff's father are interesting and un-pretentious. Great 80's show and the finale was probably one of the best I've seen on television. Amazing.

Watching "A Different World" was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to attend an HBCU. It was fascinating to watch what Debbie Allen and Bill Cosby did to improve the additional seasons of the show and take on everything from racism to Black Greek life to elitism to black history to relationships. There wasn't a topic that "A Different World" didn't touch, and this show made it cool to be college-educated, married and showed middle-class African Americans in a way that was not done with other shows. African-American singers, artists and even rappers were able to showcase their acting talent on this show, and I don't think there's been a show since that had this many strong, talented, African-American actresses and actors all in one spot (without being a token) since "A Different World" and "Bill Cosby." I think "Living Single" came close, but it just didn't have this massive group of topics. I really wish Universal Studios would release the additional seasons on DVD.

This is the perfect thriller for a Saturday Night In.

Will Smith puts in a fine performance in a serious role as a lawyer who is being chased by the establishment and framed. He handles serious roles very well and portrays the frustration and confusion of the character with great skill. Jon Voigt is excellent as a Government Official and manages to keep that calm persona throughout.

It is Gene Hackman who steals the film though for me. Playing a mysterious character whose role and background are kept quiet until the end, he manages to portray a sense of urgency, secrecy, menace, dramatic irony and purpose. Yet he still keeps a vague sense of humour at the same time.

There are a couple of good subplots in this film.. One which was totally unnecessary to the plot and one which appeared to be until the clever ending.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

This movie impressed me to such an extent, that I had trouble sleeping for the first few nights after I saw it, not because he scared me. I just kept thinking about this guy who had scissors for hands, and was so unfamiliar with the world,

He had a wonderful talent for making things with his unique hands, but he was still confused about the way the world worked.

He finally wound up back where he began, which in a macabre sort of way was where he belonged, because his background just wouldn't let him fit into a so called normal world.

The ending was very sad.

This movie is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. It is a work of art, an wonderful, emotional experience and a true classic. There's really not much more to say...the acting is excellent, particularly from young Haley Joel Osment, who had a hard task in portraying the extremely deep character of Cole Sear. Bruce Willis, as well, gives an outstanding performance in the best role I've seen him in before or since. At once touching, suspenseful, joyous, sad, and shocking, The Sixth Sense is a movie everyone should see at least once. Don't let its categorization by some as a horror movie scare you away...it isn't a horror movie. It's a drama, and one of the greatest ones of all at that.

Forest Gump is a movie about a below average man who achieves much than anyone would expect and while being in this journey he entertains us. He is declared below average at school, has got braces in his legs during childhood, has a friend jenny who he loves, has a mother who guides him through thick and thin. After school he joins as rugby player excels at it. After rugby he joins army excels at it. He makes great friends with sergeant and a Bubba. After that he excels at ping pong. Sets a shrimp business, becomes rich, runs for a record distance continuously, gets back home. Gets out to search for jenny, who has been in trouble a lot lately. Gets to know about his kid with jenny, and helps him grow.

The movie is simple, emotional, family drama where Tom Hanks is excellent. Great job by director and film makers to create such a movie.

I recommend to watch this movie with family.

The concept of the story is brilliant. It's become such a saying now to 'pay it forward' but I'm not sure if it even originated from this movie. The concept was told in a terrific way and really captured the ripple effect. Some viewers might not like this (being cynics), but I love it.

Here we have a kid who was is doing his best to change the world while the adults who initially encouraged him to are ultimately the ones holding him back. I cried the first time I watched it, and though I didn't cry during the second time, I could really feel the emotions emitting from the screen. I was actually suppressing my laughter during the climactic scene because I was waiting to see if my guy friend would cry (he didn't), but the bubble of laughter died away really quickly and gave way to sadness. The family dynamics as well as the interactions with his teacher was so well executed and detailed that it just brought the whole film together.

To me this film is near flawless because I love it so much.

This book doesn't just flip gender roles. It delves into complicated discussions around systemic oppression, power, rape culture, gender, and religion. The book is an unflinching dystopian yet also a mirror of our world today. It forces you to ask hard questions about your beliefs. It's also a ridiculously gripping story that had me sucked in and invested in every character.

My Mad Fat Diary is one of the funniest, most touching, realistic, well written and brilliant shows I have ever seen. Pretty much my favorite show of all time and I think that viewers of all age groups and social groups could relate to it in someway. 10/10! The characters are well formed, interesting, lovable, relatable and very realistic. This show touches on some very heavy subjects of youth and young life, but does so with the utmost respect and understanding of complexity. The actress that plays Rae is so perfect for the role, and the actor that plays her love interest Finn is fantastic and absolutely gorgeous to look at!